New to turkeys....what do I feed them?

[Alexandra33]

Honestly, as a new turkey mom to pets after twenty years with none I’ve gotten a ton of bad advice. And then I “met” @R2elk and @TurkeyTimes These two have been my lifeline. Along with @casportpony they are the only ones I go to with a problem. Heed the advice they give. IMHO, ignore the rest.(being feed mill and TSC self professed pros). You ususally get great advice here

Good to know who I can trust with any future (and I'm sure there'll be a lot, so be prepared! ) turkey questions that crop up. Some of the most knowledgeable, poultry-savvy folks in history grace this forum with their wisdom.

I feed turkey starter to my chicken chicks, poults, and peachicks, so I think you'll be fine

Thanks for putting my mind at ease! Good to know everything will work out.

View attachment 1505963
This is an excellent chart

I'll say! Will definitely be referencing this in the future. Thank you!

~Alex

 

[R2elk]

Which leads to another question: there's going to be a Silkie in the order, which we were planning on raising with our turkeys. Would the specialized, protein-rich feed harm this little one? If so, adjustments will be made.

Chickens can actually handle high protein better than turkeys can. When I brood turkeys and chicks together at the same time, all get the high protein turkey starter. I have never seen any harm to the chickens from this and in my opinion it makes for healthier chicks. People that show their chickens often switch to a high protein feed to get the chickens ready for showing.

Good luck.

 

[R2elk]

At what age are turkeys considered "adults," by any chance?
~Alex

I consider turkeys to be adults at 6 months old even though they are still growing.

 

[Kessel23]

I only have BBB turkeys so this might not apply to heritage birds like the ones you are getting but my guys grew way faster than the chicks and started stepping on them when they were eating, I split them up and a few weeks later I had one of the poults pull a chicks head through the wire and beat it up real bad. They are usually very friendly with all the chickens though, mine didn't purposely step on them obviously, they were just too focused on feeding. I think they only beat up the chick because he was stuck there and they thought he was trying to fight them. The BBBs are usually gentle giants though and they are so funny to watch. Again, I have no experience with heritage birds, I know they grow a lot slower than BBBs though and I would assume they would be less focused on food.

I am not sure if this applies to domestic or livestock turkeys but in hunting a baby turkey is called a poult, a yearling male is a jake, a yearling female is a jenny, a adult male is a tom or gobbler, and a adult female is a hen. Heritage birds rarely have leg problems if they are fed properly, even my BBBs have fine legs and roam very far, well far compared to my chickens, as I was typing this they came into the backyard, there is an apple tree in the corner of the yard that they discovered a few weeks ago and now they go to it daily.

 

[R2elk]

I only have BBB turkeys so this might not apply to heritage birds like the ones you are getting but my guys grew way faster than the chicks and started stepping on them when they were eating, I split them up and a few weeks later I had one of the poults pull a chicks head through the wire and beat it up real bad. They are usually very friendly with all the chickens though, mine didn't purposely step on them obviously, they were just too focused on feeding. I think they only beat up the chick because he was stuck there and they thought he was trying to fight them. The BBBs are usually gentle giants though and they are so funny to watch. Again, I have no experience with heritage birds, I know they grow a lot slower than BBBs though and I would assume they would be less focused on food.

I am not sure if this applies to domestic or livestock turkeys but in hunting a baby turkey is called a poult, a yearling male is a jake, a yearling female is a jenny, a adult male is a tom or gobbler, and a adult female is a hen. Heritage birds rarely have leg problems if they are fed properly, even my BBBs have fine legs and roam very far, well far compared to my chickens, as I was typing this they came into the backyard, there is an apple tree in the corner of the yard that they discovered a few weeks ago and now they go to it daily.

The stepping on the other chicks is something specific to BB turkeys. Even the BB hens don't make great mothers because they cannot physically move their feet as delicately as can the heritage hens.

 

[Kessel23]

Alright, I think you may have told me about the bad mom thing before, I remember reading it somewhere now, oops. Well that was the only problem I have had with turkeys and chickens being together, well besides the one stuck chick but that was actually caused because I tried to split them apart.

 

[R2elk]

Alright, I think you may have told me about the bad mom thing before, I remember reading it somewhere now, oops. Well that was the only problem I have had with turkeys and chickens being together, well besides the one stuck chick but that was actually caused because I tried to split them apart.

When they become juvenile delinquents and later when they are adults, turkeys can be very destructive to chickens. This doesn't mean they will, just that they can be. My worst problems are usually between roosters and adult turkey hens with the turkey hens usually being the instigators. Unfortunately when a turkey gets something in its mind it can be very difficult to convince the turkey to forget about it.

 

[Kessel23]

If you are feeding a balanced chick starter with natural foraging ground for your turkeys to forage until they are 16 weeks old then give them layer feed and enough room for them to forage they are fine! Turkeys have been around for ever and 100 years ago I have never read anywhere that farmer so and so went to the feed store to buy extra minerals and supplements to add to the turkey food. The people now days want growth for bigger meals, over feeding, more processed foods. I for one have my turkeys as pets not as food and they are doing great!
It is sad to see people now days just jump to insult people and try to get people to spend money on things not necessary.

Well I doubt you were around 100 years ago to be reading anything and even if you were you would not have found anything saying "farmer so and so went to the feed store to buy extra minerals and supplements to add to the turkey food" because turkey food already has all the nutrients required to raise a turkey. High protein feed is necessary, believe it or not, casportpony, TurkeyTimes, and R2elk are not on this website to scam and insult people.

Honestly, as a new turkey mom to pets after twenty years with none I’ve gotten a ton of bad advice. And then I “met” @R2elk and @TurkeyTimes These two have been my lifeline. Along with @casportpony they are the only ones I go to with a problem. Heed the advice they give. IMHO, ignore the rest.(being feed mill and TSC self professed pros). You ususally get great advice here

 

[R2elk]

If you are feeding a balanced chick starter with natural foraging ground for your turkeys to forage until they are 16 weeks old then give them layer feed and enough room for them to forage they are fine! Turkeys have been around for ever and 100 years ago I have never read anywhere that farmer so and so went to the feed store to buy extra minerals and supplements to add to the turkey food. The people now days want growth for bigger meals, over feeding, more processed foods. I for one have my turkeys as pets not as food and they are doing great!
It is sad to see people now days just jump to insult people and try to get people to spend money on things not necessary.

I grew up on a farm and had many relatives who were farmers. Farmers did and do get the best quality and proper feed for the animals they are raising. Farmers are the ones who worked and continue to work on improving their livestock so they can get the best return for their efforts.

Proper turkey starter will be 28% to 30% protein but it isn't just about the higher protein. A quality turkey starter will have much higher levels of lysine, methionine and niacin than a quality chick starter. These are not nutrients that you go out and buy to add, they are already in a quality turkey starter. The niacin in particular is extremely important to the proper growth and development of their legs.

Using a quality starter to give the poults a good start has nothing to do with growing a bigger and fatter end product. It is very important for growing healthy turkeys that can live a long healthy life if that is the desired end. Poor nutrition at the start can lead to a shortened life span.

 

[Alexandra33]

I've really enjoyed gleaning much-needed knowledge from these recent posts! Can't properly express my gratitude. Thanks to all!

Our first poults are doing great, as is the Silkie who accompanies them. Hopefully I'm not annoying anyone with endless questions, but here comes another! The hatchery had kept these youngsters in a brooder for two weeks until they were spoken for. I'm assuming they received little to no socialization, due to the fact they shy away from hands very slightly. Are they too old to imprint on us?

We've been to hand feeding, and allowing them to perch on our shoulders. It seems there's a slight improvement since.

~Alex